title: Active and passive-touch during interpersonal multisensory stimulation change self-other boundaries.
abstract: In the "enfacement" illusion seeing an unfamiliar face being touched at the same time as one's own face evokes changes in self-face recognition. We investigated the contribution of proprioceptive and motor signals derived from self-generated actions in the sensory-driven malleability of self-other boundaries during the "enfacement" illusion. Changes in self-face recognition during active- and passive-touch interpersonal visuo-tactile stimulation were quantified by means of psychophysical and psychometric tasks. Active- and passive-touch evoked comparable changes in the categorical boundaries of self-other distinction, changing the extent to which the other is assimilated into the mental self-representation. Actively touching or simply feeling touch on one's own face with concurrent observed touch on someone else's face seems to elicit comparable changes in self-recognition, suggesting that afferent input might be sufficient for updating one's body-image, although some components of the experience of self-identification seem to be more affected by passive- than by active-touch.
authors.affiliation: Lab of Action & Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK. Electronic address: a.tajadura@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tajadura-Jiménez
authors.forename: Ludovica
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lorusso
authors.forename: Manos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsakiris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007699:Kinesthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Active-touch; Face; Interpersonal multisensory stimulation; Self-awareness; Self-recognition